Ruins of Camelot
by Knicknevin
Summary: Sometimes, we lose... The StarFox team is faced with some bad news. And what it leads to...*Chapter 4 is up! More coming (hopefully) soon!.*
1. Painful news...

_Author's note: Well, here we are again… What? You don't know me? Well, it's not a surprise- I haven't felt confident enough in my own abilities to post anything in a long time… Not that I think I'm a bad writer, but I'm too much of a perfectionist to ever feel satisfied with anything I've written… I'll write something, then knit-pick at it until I lose interest altogether…_

_Heh, I wonder if I'm really gonna publish this… I've got dozens of fics cluttering up my hard drive that I never felt were quite 'up to snuff'. If this one goes over well, maybe I'll start polishing up a few of those too…_

_Well, I've got the first chapter done, and I think that the hardest part is past..._

_Well… maybe not…_   
  
  
  


**Ruins of Camelot**

**Chapter 1**

_By: Knicknevin_

_Contact me: knicknevin@teamartail.com_   


  


CDF (Cornerian Defense Force) Central Command 

General Pepper's Office 

4:00 P.M.   
  


General Pepper scanned over the latest battle reports… the news was not good. Andross had already overrun Aquas, Macbeth, and Fortuna… now his forces moved against Zoness and Katina. Zoness would almost certainly fall, but Bill Grey and Husky Squadron were stationed on Katina- they might be able to hold with Bulldog Squadron to back them up… Fox McCloud and StarFox were heading that way too, so there was a good chance they could stop Andross's war machine before it smashed through to Corneria. 

Pepper chewed his lollypop nervously. Even if Andross's latest drive was halted, they would only be buying time… The last offensive against Andross had failed miserably, as had all those before it. Now his counter offensive threatened to destroy Corneria's forces completely. The two opponents wore at each other endlessly, attacking and counter-attacking, making the war a matter of numbers. Whoever outlasted the other would win… it was simple mathematics. 

From the looks of the reports, Corneria was on the losing end of the equation… And the reports brought some other bad news… 

Pepper sat down at his desk with a sigh. He couldn't allow himself to despair- he was still the Commander-in-Chief of all Cornerian Defense Forces. Whether he thought the war was to be won or lost, he still had at least on more duty to perform… He felt he should take care it personally. He pressed the buzzer to call his aide. "Yes sir?" the young lieutenant asked respectfully as he entered the office. 

The _very_ young lieutenant… The jaguar couldn't be older that 18, and even that was probably being generous… Before the war, it wouldn't be possible for someone to become an officer so young… Now, however, the situation on Corneria was so bad that… _children_… were being recruited and promoted to unheard of ranks. 

_Well, _Pepper thought, _Maybe they aren't getting very much younger… Maybe I'm just getting older. _The aide waited patiently for the General to order him. _Too many dying young… but we have no-one else to send… I wasn't much older than him when I received my first combat assignment._

The lollypop in his mouth took on a sour taste. 

"Get me a signal through to the Great Fox," Pepper finally ordered. "I need to discuss the latest changes with McCloud…" The aide saluted and hurried away. Pepper turned around to the Vid-screen, deep in thought. He dropped his lolly into the waste can. After a few moments, a sleepy looking Fox McCloud appeared on the screen. "Fox, sorry to wake you," Pepper apologized, "But I think you should hear about this now… Before news comes to you second-hand…" 

Fox looked concerned. "What is it?" 

Pepper picked up the battle report from Zoness. _This part of the job never got any easier… I was so glad to be promoted; I got away from this ghastly duty… But, here I am again._ His eyes scanned down the report to the addendum. "Fox, it's not easy for me to have to pass along news like this, so bear with me…" 

Now Fox's expression took on a mixture of both concern and agitation. "What is it?" he repeated, "Come on, I was trying to sleep." 

Pepper looked down the report again, to the casualty list… A cold and heartless list… promising futures, hopes, all lost… Pepper realized with a twinge of sadness that no one on the list was even half his age. _God I hate this job… I wish the war would end so I could resign._

"Well…" 

His eyes slid down the depressingly long list- the battle at Zoness was not large in scale, Corneria didn't have a large force there… but the casualty rate among the garrison there was high… his eyes skipped here and there down the list. 

Anderson, Eddie 

"I don't know-" 

_He could remember one mother, a young and beautiful woman… Her 6-year-old son had been killed by friendly fire during a military exercise… The rage and sadness in her eyes as she cursed Pepper, who could only stand there, accepting her words._

Compton, Regis 

"-of any easy way-" 

_Or the elderly mother of his former classmate… Regis had been his name too. He'd been killed in an accident at a construction site… although some suspected sabotage… He and Pepper had been good friends through school, and he had served as Pepper's aide until he had been sent to review the status of the new barracks…_

Fanaway, Stephen 

"-to put this-" 

_But he could remember only a few such incidents… the rest had blurred together, leaving only hints of a vague sadness._

_Pepper had been a good friend of James- Fox's father. Every time he spoke to Fox he felt a pang of guilt… He had been the one to recommend Pigma to James… Who could have guessed he'd be so treacherous?_

Hanscomb, Lynx 

"-so-" 

_At least Peppy had taken on the task of breaking the news to Fox… This time, though, Pepper felt he had to do it himself… and, despite all the terrible memories, he felt this time was going to be the worst._

Longfellow, Fanix 

"-I'll tell it to you straight." He finished, looking at the next name on the list. 

Phoenix, Fara   
  


****************************************************************   
  


Great Fox 

En-route to Katina 

Local Night   
  


Peppy awoke to the sound of shouting. That was fairly common on board the Great Fox, even in the middle of the night. After a few moments, he recognized the voice as Fox's. That was also common. 

He ignored the shouting for some time, as he always did when Fox and Falco fought. After some time, Peppy realized that Fox's voice was the only one he heard. He didn't sound like he was saying anything intelligible either- just shouting and carrying on. Concerned, Peppy jumped out of bed, dressed, and hurried over to Fox's quarters. 

By the time he opened the door, the shouting had stopped, and was replaced by something Peppy hadn't heard from Fox since he was a young child… Fox was weeping. Peppy took a cautious step into the room to see Fox kneeling next to his bed, face buried in the pillow. Peppy stood in the door, shocked at seeing his friend so totally lose his composure like this… "Fox?" he asked nervously, "What's wrong Fox?" 

Fox made no reply. A scene hauntingly familiar… The last time Peppy had seen Fox like this was after he had told him the fate of his father, James. 

Peppy stood, looking at Fox in confusion. "What's wrong Fox?" 

Peppy suddenly realized there was only one thing that could provoke this kind of a response from Fox… only one other person that close. "Fox! What happened Fox?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. Fox picked his head up, seeming to become aware of Peppy for the first time. 

"S-she's… gone…" 

That was all Peppy had to hear. Without saying another word, he wrapped his arm over Fox's shoulder. The two sat for some time in silence, Peppy fighting back tears of his own. He had liked Fara a great deal, and knew how happy she made Fox… Although he would never admit it, Peppy looked on Fox as the son he never had. He was too old to have children now- he was 41, going to turn 42 soon. By the time his child got to be Fox's age, he'd be at least 60… So instead he had 'adopted' Fox after James had died. 

He thought back to the day when he had told a young Fox that his father wouldn't be coming back again... a day far too much like this one. _Poor Fox,_ he thought, _first your mother, then your father and now this… losing all the people that matter most to you. The world seems bent on dealing you a losing hand…_

After some time, Peppy realized Fox's muffled sobs had quieted and his breathing had become even. He'd fallen asleep. Peppy picked Fox up gently and laid him down on his bed, then stepped back. _Poor Fox_… Peppy shook his head sadly. He wished there was something more he could do, but he knew that Fox was going to have to deal with his grief on his own. There were no words Peppy knew that could contain that kind of sorrow… 

He stepped out of Fox's room, closing the door behind him. He thought back to that day three months ago… The pride in Fox's voice as he told the others that Fara had agreed to marry him… As soon as the war was over… He slammed his fist into the wall in a rage. 

"What happened?" he heard a voice ask from his left. Falco stepped out from a shadow in the darkened hallway. "I heard yelling a while ago but I didn't know what was going on…" 

Peppy just shook his head sadly, trying to find his voice again. "Fara's dead," he finally managed to force out. 

Falco stepped back in shock. "N-no… way… How did… what…" he stammered, "Is Fox all right?" 

"He's asleep now… I don't know what happened… Let's try contacting General Pepper in the morning… he must know what happened…" 

"Is Fox gonna be okay?" Falco asked nervously. "Maybe we should keep an eye on him… just in case…" he choked back a sob. "You know… I really liked her… I never said anything because I knew she liked Fox, but… man…" 

"You should get some sleep," Peppy advised Falco, "But, wake up Slippy and tell him too…it's going to be a long day tomorrow…" 

Falco turned without another word and headed towards Slippy's quarters, head hung low. Peppy shook his head sadly- it was going to be a long day indeed. The Great Fox would reach Katina by tomorrow, and Andross's forces wouldn't be far behind. He couldn't let Fox fight in the shape he was in, but he couldn't ignore the situation on Katina either… 

Peppy made his way back to his quarters and lay down. Things seemed darker now; the confidence he usually felt was drained away. For the first time in a long time, he considered the possibility that they may actually lose the war. 

Tomorrow was going to be a long day indeed…   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Well, I'm not totally satisfied with this, but I'm gonna post it before I lose my nerve and go into hiding again :) The way I look at it, if I post chapter 1, I'm obliged to keep up the story until the finish. Chapter 2 is gonna be longer that this little bit, so I'll be a few days in coming._

_My current e-mail address is way too busy, so I'm gonna get a new address dedicated to fanfiction discussion and such soon._

_Anyway, tell me what you think, thanks._


	2. Preparations for battle

  


_Author's note: Well, I've got my new e-mail ready, so don't be afraid to praise, suggest, criticize (constructive criticism only please), or talk about anything else. It's not really a new address; just one I used to use for a Xenogears RPG before our group broke apart._

_This was an odd piece to write. My whole goal right now is to bring the war to a logical conclusion, as the main body of the story I have planned takes place after it. I just started it here because I would have to go over this anyway, to explain how the war had ended._

_Anyway, here, after an amazing amount of editing (I'll explain later) is the next chapter of our story…_   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Ruins of Camelot**

Chapter 2

By: Knicknevin   
knicknevin@teamartail.com   


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Great Fox 

High orbit above Katina 

Morning   
  


Peppy, Slippy and Falco sat in the Great Fox's cafeteria, debating what they should do next. Peppy was firm that they should stay and fight, while Falco was equally sure they should make tracks back for Corneria. Slippy, not surprisingly, was swaying between both views. "Fox s-still won't come out of his room," Slippy said, stuttering due to his nervousness, "and we don't have much t-time until the n-next attack comes…" 

"We can't just back off now," Peppy insisted. He could see clearly what would happen if they abandoned Katina to Andross. "If we leave-" 

"- Which I've been saying we should do all along," Falco interrupted. He felt that the fight here wasn't as important as going back to Corneria and making preparations for a funeral. Although Fara had been CDF, he-like all of them- considered her a part of the group. He understood the risk involved in leaving and he hated to retreat in the face of the enemy, but he didn't really feel like going to fight a battle under these conditions, with Fox unresponsive and everyone else in mourning. 

"- The base here might fall and Corneria not long after that," Peppy finished, fixing Falco with a glare. "We won't have many safe harbors left to go to after that… In fact, we won't have any. Unless you think Andross is just going to forget about us?" 

Falco looked away, knowing he was wrong. He tried one more stand with his position. "But Fox can't fight in the shape he's in…" he went on stubbornly. 

"So m-maybe we should just leave him here for now," Slippy suggested. Falco's last argument collapsed. That honestly hadn't occurred to Falco; the group never flew without Fox to lead them. "The th-three of us should be all right. I can disable Fox's Arwing before we g-go." 

Peppy and Falco (reluctantly) nodded in agreement. "I suppose so- best if Fox doesn't come along on this one…" Peppy said. "I'm... going to put a call in to General Pepper before we go and ask him what happened." 

The others nodded and left to prep their Arwings while Peppy headed over to the communicator and put in the frequency for CDF HQ. "General Pepper's office, Lieutenant Agrue speaking, May I help you?" a young jaguar answered. 

Peppy blinked, wondering if he had heard the name right. _Lieutenant Argue? What kind of name is that?_ "Ah, ahem, yes… This is Peppy Hare, from Star Fox team. I'd like to speak with General Pepper if I may." 

"I'm sorry, but the General is attending to some important business right now… I can take a message if you'd like-" 

"It's all right Lyle," Pepper's voice came from off screen. "Put him through- I know what he's calling about." 

"Yes sir," the aide replied. 

Pepper replaced Agrue's face on the screen. "Peppy!" he exclaimed with false enthusiasm. Seeing his old friend's face, he quickly discarded the act. "How have you been? How's Fox doing? I'm a bit concerned about him- he was quite upset by the news…" 

Peppy shook his head sadly. "We could be better. Fox has himself locked inside his room… He's not talking. The rest of us are pretty down right now… We got the gist of the news, but I think we ought to know what happened. Fara meant a lot to all of us here..." 

Pepper heaved a sigh. "I spared Fox the details out of consideration… You want to hear the full story I assume…" 

Peppy nodded, a knot tying in his stomach. "Yes." 

Pepper shifted about, trying to think of a way to begin. 

"The others are gone," Peppy added, seeing the uncertainty on Pepper's face. Pepper nodded. 

"Well, as you probably already knew, she had been sent to Zoness to assist in holding off Andross's forces," Pepper began (Fara, unlike Fox and the rest, who were mercenaries, was actually enlisted in the CDF). When Peppy nodded, he continued. "Star Wolf arrived with a contingent of fighters... We had expected a move like that, and had a large squadron of fighters ready to launch, including Fara's. However… they had something new. Star Wolf's fighters had been upgraded impressively- the fighters they're flying now are much superior to ours… The rout was terrible. Fara managed to engage Wolf in a dogfight, and disabled his craft, but… an unidentified energy beam from one of the other fighters- possibly Leon's- shut down her ship's power and she crashed." 

Peppy nodded slowly. "I see… I guess we have another grudge to bear against Star Wolf." 

Pepper looked away from the screen, sadness and disgust in his eyes. "There's more… I told Fox that much, but not this next part… Fara survived the crash… Andross's forces captured and interrogated her… We believe it was Leon who performed the interrogation… It shows all the trademarks… Pigma may have had a hand in it as well, from your description of James's treatment…" 

Peppy shuddered. He felt his fur standing up on end, and his paws tightened into fists. He tried to speak, but his mouth had gone dry. "I… terrible… those bastards…" he managed to force out. 

"Peppy, control yourself... We can't afford our best squadron to go off on some vigilante quest. That's exactly why I didn't tell this to Fox_- we're losing this war as it is_… We need every resource at our command…" 

Peppy closed his eyes, remembering what had happened to James. For Fara to have suffered the same treatment... 

"Without you, we may not have any chance of turning this around and pushing Andross back to Venom." 

Peppy finally nodded. "You're right, as always..." That was a cold comfort though. Suddenly, he couldn't wait for the conversation to end. He glanced over at the chronometer. "I should go… Fox is grounded for the moment, and we need to get a head start and link up with Bill's group as soon as we can. I'll talk to you again after this battle." 

"I understand... Good luck to you all," Pepper said, ending the transmission. 

Peppy turned away from the Vid-screen, then shuddered again. The idea of Fara meeting her fate at the hands of Leon and Pigma… He forced the thoughts out of his mind. He sprinted down the passage to the flight deck. 

Falco was waiting impatiently at the entrance. "So what happened?" he asked impatiently. 

Slippy poked his head out of Fox's Arwing. "Yeah, tell us…W-we should know." 

Peppy shook his head, wondering what to tell them. _I can't tell them everything… not before a battle as important as this one. They're already on edge._ "Star Wolf happened," he finally revealed, forcing his voice to sound calm. "They shot her down using some new model fighter." 

Falco brought his fist down on the nose of his Arwing. "Wolf! I swear, he'd better stay out of my way… He's gonna go down!" 

"Later, Falco… I had expected that news anyway," Peppy lied (he hadn't actually thought of it), trying to calm Falco, "Those four are the only ones with the skill do defeat her. Let's worry about revenge later. For now, we have to defend Katina." 

"Yeah, yeah," Falco grumped. "I know. It still pisses me off." 

"I understand… later though. Lets take care of this problem first." 

Peppy climbed up into the cockpit of his Arwing. "You about done there Slippy?" he called once he was in. 

"Yeah," Slippy's voice came from Fox's Arwing. "Just l-lemme check one thing… Okay!" Slippy hopped out of the Arwing, holding a small circuit board. "Without this," Slippy reported, indicating the board, "Th-the ship's computer can't initiate a s-startup sequence." 

"Good job, Slip," Falco said absently as he climbed into his own Arwing. "Now, let's get going…" 

"Got it!" 

_And if Star Wolf shows up,_ Peppy and Falco thought in unison, _All bets are off… I'm not going to let them escape this time…_   
  


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CDF Central Command 

General Pepper's Office 

9:00 A.M.   
  


Pepper watched the tactical display carefully. Tildoe Base had reported it was under attack as expected, but, according to Bill Grey, the entire enemy force consisted of under-powered drone ships. It seemed odd for Andross to send an unprepared attack force, so the only other meaning of the attack was that it was… either a trap or a decoy. 

Neither of the two was very encouraging, but Intelligence insisted that Andross's forces _were_ there, they were just holding back for some reason… And, if they were waiting for something, it almost certainly spelled a trap… But what were they doing? Intelligence had no idea. 

Pepper abruptly remembered a report he had read recently, about a captured drone ship… He'd forgotten the details though. He returned to his desk and rummaged around among his papers, trying to find it. His desk, however, was an impressive mess, and he was unable to find it. A knock at his door startled him. "Sir?" his aide asked as he entered the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but we received a transmission from Venom…" 

"Yes, what is it?" 

"It would appear Zoness has fallen. We lost contact with them last night, but we hoped that they were still holding out… Andross sent this transmission across the system." Lyle walked over to the Vid-screen and entered a few commands, then stepped away. 

After a few moments, Andross's gloating face appeared on the screen. "Today," he began, "Begins the end of Corneria. Zoness has fallen, and my forces shall soon overrun Katina as well." The image on screen switched to the surface of Zoness. Buildings lay in ruin, bodies strewn haphazardly about… The image zoomed in on the faces of a handful of hopeless looking survivors- prisoners to be taken to the slave mines of Venom. "Look well upon the face of defeat- those few who survive will wear it for the rest of their lives." The scene switched to space, showing images of a vast fleet of ships. "There is no hope for you- my armies shall overwhelm yours. Sleep well Corneria… for soon you will sleep for eternity…" Andross laughed, and the transmission ended. 

Pepper shook his head and sighed. Nothing surprising- Andross loved that sort of melodrama. But it didn't bode well in any case. "Thank you lieutenant," he said to Agrue. The aide nodded and left without another word. _He's frightened_, Pepper realized, _But, things do look grim… I wonder how the morale of the rest of the army is? He looked about ready to give up…_

Thinking back for the past few weeks, he realized that everyone he met had the same hopeless look as Agrue... Even himself. Slowly, the people were coming to realize that there was little hope of defeating Andross... At best, they could stall and delay him, but that would only postpone the inevitable. Without something on the order of a miracle, Corneria would be unable to fight any longer in only... two years, the most trusted of the experts claimed. But his estimates were often optimistic. Probably more like one year... and there was not much of a chance they could drive Andross all the way back to Venom in that short time. 

Still, there was no other option- surrender was out of the question. Corneria would fight. If it's fate was to be destroyed... Pepper wouldn't be there to see it anyway. 

He shrugged away his gloomy thoughts, remembering the report he had been looking for earlier. 

Returning to his desk, he searched until he found the elusive report. The drone ships, according to the report, were not to be captured intact; they had only obtained the one through luck. The self-destruct on the ship had malfunctioned, allowing a fighter pilot to disable and capture it. Upon examination… Pepper jumped. _A decoy…_ The drones' flight and battle capabilities we secondary. Their primary function was in fact to examine each opposing fighter and develop strategies to defeat them. They had highly advanced logic processors- almost sentient- that could follow each enemy pilot and catalogue his or her habits, patterns, strategies, and so on. Once all the opposing craft had been catalogued, the information was sent to a mothership, which then began launching combat drones… These drones had the ID signatures of every enemy craft on record, and when engaged in a dogfight, would use the information sent by the info drones to predict and adapt to every strategy that pilot used… 

And no pilot in their right mind would let his or her guard down, so they would be flying to their fullest potential. And so would, therefore, the enemy fighters. 

Bill's group and Star Fox had been battling these info drones for some time… In all likelihood a great deal of information had been gathered. When the mothership moved in… 

Pepper hit the call button. "Yes sir?" Agrue asked as he entered. 

"Get me a signal through to Tildoe base, immediately!" 

"Y-yes sir!" Agrue exclaimed as he departed, surprised at the sudden force Pepper had displayed. 

_Damn all the luck, I should have realized sooner… _Pepper snarled to himself. After several minutes, his Vid-screen was still blank. "Lieutenant, where's that communication!" 

Lyle rushed back into the office. "We can't get a signal through sir; we're being jammed! Total blackout on all frequencies!" 

"We can't cut through?" 

"Impossible! The signal power is huge! We can't break through!" 

"Oh no…"   


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Venom 

Andross's Inner Sanctum 

6:00 P.M. (9:15 A.M. Corneria time)   
  


"So what did you think of my transmission?" Andross asked Wolf O'Donnel. He leaned back in his throne and chuckled. "I have such fun taunting them like that." 

Wolf shrugged. He wasn't interested in Andross's gloating. It was dreadfully tiring after a while. "Overacted and melodramatic. After so many similar messages, the Cornerians are probably ignoring them by now." 

Andross grunted and forgot the subject. He was silent for some time, Wolf waiting patiently for his next orders. Andross's face took on a dreamy look. He took a deep breath of Venom's polluted air. "Ah, lovely. There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of death, is there? On any scale- from the stench of a dead animal, to the odor of a dead world…it makes me feel young again." 

Wolf couldn't have cared less, but he held his tongue. He actually was a bit turned off by such things... The two waited in silence for some time- Andross sitting on his throne, Wolf standing before him. "Well done with that Pheonix woman," Andross finally commented. "Leaving the body where it would be found like that. McCloud is probably half-insane by now." 

_Only half way? Do you know how far-gone you are? Even if he is half insane, he's only half as mad as you are,_ Wolf thought, but only said "Praise Leon for that, it was entirely his doing. I was away at the time." 

Andross fixed Wolf with an appraising look. "Away, eh?" For a moment, Wolf could almost see the cunning and charismatic leader he had joined forces with years ago. The gaze was both piercing and knowing. Wolf felt as if Andross was looking right through him- right into his most closely guarded secrets. The moment passed, and Andross seemed to lose interest. The two were silent for another interminable stretch. 

Wolf fidgeted impatiently. "So what would you have me do next then?" he asked. All he wanted from the ape were orders. He hadn't been out of the action long, but he still couldn't stand sitting about. His fighter had been repaired, and he wanted to go put it to use. Andross, however, was ignoring him. 

Andross's face took on a distant look again. "Tell me Wolf," he asked abruptly, "Do you dream? When you sleep I mean… What do you dream about?" 

Wolf rolled his remaining eye. Andross was getting like this more and more often- weepy, nostalgic, and reminiscent. He wasn't sure if it was senility, insanity, or just plain stupidity, but it was getting damn annoying. "I don't dream," he answered the Emperor's question. "Or if I do, I forget them by the morning." All Wolf wanted was orders. Patrol, assault... hell, even a suicide mission was better then this endless waiting. But Andross wasn't interested. 

"I was dreaming of a hedgehog last night," Andross went on, not listening to Wolf. "He spoke to me for some time, asking me various questions. He had the most horrible accent though- I could barely understand him. He asked me what I would wish for, if I could… I forget what I answered… Tell me Wolf- if you had one wish, what would it be?" 

_For you to quit babbling and give me some orders. This must be my punishment for all I've done. I'm in a living hell. _Wolf sighed. Andross was waiting for an answer. "I don't really know. To defeat McCloud I suppose." 

Andross seemed to wake up. "Yes, McCloud… He must be quite distraught by now, with his lover dead. We should try to lure him… Trap…" Andross looked up at the ceiling, his gaze far away. 

"I wonder if the stars still shine when I'm not looking at them? Probably not." Wolf tightened his paw into a fist, supressing the urge to punch the stupid look off the old ape's face. It was a difficult task though. 

After a few minutes, Andross seemed to wake up again. "Yes. When Katina falls, we'll drop the jamming over Corneria- we can't maintain it for long anyway. We'll let a signal be intercepted by Star Fox, implying that his dear is still alive- that the body found was a fake. Then we can lure him out and destroy him at our leisure…" 

Wolf thought for a few moments, then smiled. Even in his current state, Andross could still inspire the worst in Wolf. "That sounds like a plan to me- we should try luring him to Zoness… It would seem a fitting place for him to die." 

Andross shared his smile. The two grinned at each other like devils. "Yes, yes… Make it so." 

As Wolf turned to leave, Andross called him again. "And let me know," he added, "If you decide on what you would wish for. I seem to recall the hedgehog saying something about you as well." 

Wolf just sighed and left the room before Andross could add anything else. 

Andross sat back in his throne in silence for a time, alone. "It's your world, isn't it? Yes, it's your world," he said sadly, looking at the door. His stomach growled. Andross jumped before realizing it was he himself that had made the noise. Without another word, he left the throne to go find something to eat.   
  


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Wolf walked into the cafeteria, where the others were waiting. "So, how did it go?" Andrew asked. "How's Uncle Andross doing?" 

Wolf crossed the room silently, picking out a few bits of meat from the buffet table and putting them on a plate. After sitting down however, he disovered he wasn't hungry anyway. He poked his food around thoughtlessly. The only thing he could think about clearly was McCloud... This was the best shot he'd had at him in a long time. 

"Well?" Leon asked. 

Wolf finally answered, responding to the second question first. "Worse. Now he babbles about dreams and beauty, and tells me he's having visions about hedgehogs who offer him wishes… He jumps from topic to topic, randomly. I don't think he even realizes he's doing it." 

The others took a moment to consider this. Pigma grunted and dug into the dinner he'd started before Wolf had walked in. The third helping, to be precise. "Did you at least get us some new orders?" Leon asked coolly. 

Wolf nodded. "Yeah, we're going to lure Star Fox out using McCloud's girlfriend as the bait." 

"But she's dead!" Andrew blurted out. _Nitwit,_ Wolf snarled mentally. 

Wolf shot a glare at him. "We know _that_, but the information can be made to appear that we staged her 'death' so that we could transport her off-planet without any interference. McCloud'll be so desperate that he'll cling to any hope anyway. All we have to do is send a transmission that is 'accidentally' intercepted by them." 

Leon frowned, considering the plan. Wolf waited for his response, knowing Leon was the most adept at strategy. If there were any holes in the plan, he'd point them out. Finally, Leon seemed to come to a conclusion. "Ah, but the Great Fox lacks the equipment to intercept this message. So, Pepper must relay the message to him then. If Pepper isn't fooled, he may not pass the news along to Fox, and our plan will fail even before it began." 

Pigma looked up from his food for the first time during the conversation. "That part's easy. We've still got a few agents scattered 'round Corneria. All gotta to do is have one of 'em transmit the data to Fox. Like ya said, he'll be desperate. It doesn't even matter if the others believe it." 

All four nodded in agreement. Wolf looked down at his plate again, but still could not find an appetite. Pigma glanced at Wolf's plate. "Are you going to eat that?" he asked. Wolf just shrugged. 

Leon and Andrew returned to their own meals, content that their new plan would succeed. 

...Still, there was one nagging doubt in all their minds (all but Wolf, at least- he didn't worry about such things)- Andross. Even Andrew openly admitted now that his uncle was fading fast. His mind seemed to be deteriorating at an alarming pace, and the ultimate effects of this were still to be seen. For the moment, he seemed to be lucent enough to still command the Army. In a short bit of time though- no more than a month or two- the group doubted he could be trusted to lead Venom anymore. 

At some point, he would have to be replaced. Everyone knew that much- Andross had failed in his experiments into immortality. His deterioration had begun before he could succeed in rejuvenating himself. But even knowing that, the actual replacement of him would lead to a great deal of difficulty. 

It had to be obvious to the entire army that he wouldn't be competent much longer, giving them even more incentive to defeat Corneria fast. If Andross was deposed (or deranged) while the war was still going on, Corneria might regain the initiative while the Empire was still being brought back to order. 

_If_ the Empire was brought back to order. None of them could think of a single person suited to take over his position. Their worst nightmare was of the Empire breaking up into civil war, and Corneria gobbling up the pieces. 

"I think we all know the stakes here," Leon said into the silence. "We need to win the war soon, before…" They all knew what he meant. The next few months were the most critical in the history of Venom. If they failed to bring about a victory over Corneria soon, the war might be lost. 

"At least we know the new fighters work," Andrew added. "Our hardware is a lot better then theirs now." 

Leon nodded. "The neutrino beam worked even better than we had hoped. It cut through Pheonix's shields like butter, and totally shut down all of her ship's systems. One solid hit from these should render them powerless." The two began to jabber back and forth about their new fighters. 

Wolf abruptly handed his plate to Pigma and went to fetch himself a salad. Pigma didn't waste time thanking him before chowing down. 

While he was away, Andrew turned to Leon. "Wolf seems out of it lately, like he's going soft too. I'm sure that isn't it, but he's acting stranger than usual lately. He got pretty careless with that Pheonix woman too." 

Leon nodded. "He gets like that from time to time... he used to at least. It's been a long time since he's acted this way." 

"What's with him anyway?" 

Leon shrugged. "I never asked. I imagine it has somthing to do with McCloud though." 

Returning to the table with his new salad, Wolf picked at it absently. Andrew and Leon glanced at one another. They had never seen Wolf eat vegetables before... his teeth weren't very well suited to eating green foods. Wolf paid them no mind, lost in his own thoughts. 

_I'll get you this time Fox… you won't escape me again. Now I'll finally have revenge…_   


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   


Great Fox 

High orbit above Katina 

9:30 A.M.   
  


Fox lay about in a stupor. In his minds-eye, he could keep seeing Fara's fighter exploding, burning… He couldn't force the image out of his head. It kept repeating, over and over... 

Peppy and the others had gone. Fox had heard them tinkering about for some time in the fighter docks- they'd probably disabled his fighter before they'd gone. He knew them well enough to predict their moves. That was all right- he wasn't going anywhere. All he wanted to do was sleep… 

But he couldn't. His mind kept relentlessly replaying images of Fara's fighter exploding, crashing, and burning… Pepper had been vague about the exact nature of what had shot her down. He hadn't been vague about who though… Star Wolf. Leon was supposed to have shot her down... That didn't sound right for some reason. Wolf was the best of the group, but she had supposedly disabled him before she was shot down herself. Still... it didn't matter. Wolf lead the team, so Fox looked on him as being responsible for his teams actions. 

Fox's mind shifted back to the conversation he had had with Pepper… The General had seemed nervous, and kept shifting about as he relayed the nature of Fara's death. Something told Fox there was more to it than he'd been told. 

He sat for some time, laying half across his bed, wondering if he should even ask. If Pepper had felt the need to conceal something, he'd obviously done it for a reason. Maybe it was best if Fox didn't know. But his mind kept showing all the possible ways Fara might have died, and he couldn't stand not knowing. 

The decision made, he rose and crossed the room to the communicator. Upon punching in the frequency for CDF headquarters, he found that the frequency was being jammed. He should have known- Andross was getting into the habit of jamming communications whenever he launched an offensive, to keep the enemy off balance. Short-range communications would still work though- Andross's own forces would need them, not that that helped Fox much. 

He lay back down on the bed with a sigh, fingering the engagement ring Fara had given him. He had a sudden memory of Fara, laughing and smiling at his surprise, on the day that she had proposed to him. Fox smiled, reliving the memory. He'd never admitted to the others that it was actually her idea. The world had seemed so bright then, even with the darkness closing in about them. Holding the memory firmly in his mind, he finally fell asleep. 

Far below, his comrades had come face to face with a waking nightmare. Fox's sleep, fortunatly, was free of such things.   
  


* * * * * * * * * *   


He did, however, dream. 

_"'Ullo lad. Ar, but ye've growed. Hah'm shore yer Farther wood be dun proudly, to see ye growed and strong."_

_Fox looked about, but could not find the source of the strange voice. "Who's there?" he called out. The world around him had a muted quality, as though it wasn't sure if it should be seen on not. He couldn't seem to focus on any part of his surroundings._

_The voice seemed to consider this for a time. From what Fox could see, he was standing out in the open, in some manner of field. He couldn't make out any details though, it was all a blur._

_"Hah's jus a nugly hurchin, who knowed yer Farther when he was a youngin," the voice finally answered. "He was an exsupulent man, yer Farther was, bold and true. Him's was cast a bad lot though. When he died, a mite o' misself died 's well."_

_"Who are you? How did you know my father?" Fox asked in confusion, once he had digested and decoded what the voice had said. He was sure he'd remember a friend of his father's who spoke in such an odd way. He tried to walk in the direction the voice was coming from, but his movements seemed sluggigh. After some time, he realized he hadn't moved at all._

_"Bosh, dinnot worry about such trivilietys. High'em who high'em." The voice seemed to be both distant, yet very close. It's reactions were slow in coming, yet it spoke from somewhere nearby._

_Fox waited for the voice to go on, but it remained silent. After another failed attempt to move in the direction of the voice, he finally asked "What do you want from me?"_

_"Nay, nay. Hah's nowt here to be havin from ye. Hah's simply here tah ASK of ye."_

_"You want to ask something of me, but you don't want anything from me?" Fox asked in confusion._

_"Mebbe High'm sayin it wrong. High'm here to be asked OF. Aye, that's the way. Yer to be asken a favor of me, and High'm to be grantin of it."_

_Fox was more confused now than he was before. "You want me to ask something of you?"_

_"Aye, aye, and think ye well on it. Nowtin kin be done once ye be grantin of yer request. 'Scuse me now, fer I must be along. Take a carful thought of what ye be askin of, and take care of yerself."_

_"Wait, I don't understand you! What am I supposed to ask?"_

"_Hah kinnot be returnin fer a while... Tis mah duty to wait fer a mite, but think ye on what Hah said to ye."_

_"Orryvoyer," the voice went on, fading away... "Farewell."_

Fox shrugged awake; the voice's last farewell still echoing in his ear. "Bizarre dream," he muttered sleepily. He yawned, rolled over, and fell back asleep, the dream forgotten.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_This chapter was originally going to be a bit longer. My original plan was to include the battle over Katina, scattered in bits throughout the chapter. However, I felt the pacing of the story was screwed up by the constant intervals. So, I grouped all the pieces into one, and discovered that, well, it didn't work anyway. I'm not at all pleased with the way the battle scenes were turning out, so I'll rework them and put them into Chapter 3._

_Okay, and I made Slippy stutter. I don't recall seeing anything that made me feel this way, but Slip just seems like a stutterer. It wasn't (though it's been a long time since I read it- I may be forgetting) in the comic, not in the game, not even in any fanfics I know. Well, actually, I think it may come from the first Star Fox- Slippy's terrified ribbiting whenever he gets a fighter on his tail… sounds like a stutter to me._

_And if you're having trouble understanding what the voice at the end is saying, try saying it out loud, it might do the trick. If that doesn't help just let me know, and I'll put translations in. It was a very strange voice to write, and I'm not sure how understandable it is to someone beside myself (or should I say 'misself'?). God, I hope I haven't created Jar-Jar..._

_Again, tell me what you think. Thanks!_


	3. The battle for Katina

_Author's note: It's been too long since I updated this story, I know. I wish I could just give some single reason for this, but it can't really be explained in such a short space. Regardless, I'm now in a position to get cracking again, so I don't want to let this pass by…_

_Yes, I changed my pen name recently. My old one didn't really suit me, so I reverted back to my old one- Knicknevin. Hopefully, ya'll can forgive me for the delay and I can go on with this story._

_Part of my problem was, although I've found a solution now, that I had written myself into a corner in Chapter 2, and I sat for weeks staring at the screen shouting, "What do I do now?"… 'Becky, if you're reading this- this is why I warned you about chapters… You can trap yourself if you're not careful…_

_Anyway, at long last…_   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Ruins of Camelot**

**Chapter 3**

**By: Knicknevin**

[Knicknevin@teamartail.com][1]   


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Katina Surface 

Tildoe Base 

8:00 A.M. 

Bill Grey surveyed the situation as best he could from the cockpit of his fighter. Husky and Bulldog squadrons seemed to be working well together, and the battle was going fairly well. 

Surprisingly well in fact. Intelligence had estimated a much larger force was on the way, but as things stood Bill's two groups outnumbered _and_ out classed the enemy. The battle they had been frantically preparing for might not last more than fifteen minutes or so… Of course, that was far too easy, Bill knew. Long range sensors showed more incoming, and more and more and more… But if every attack wave was _this_ weak, they could hold all day. 

A sudden impact on his ship pulled Bill back to the present. He instinctively threw his fighter into evasive maneuvers, scanning the sky for the enemy. He caught sight of a small craft speed by on his eleven. _Got you now…_ He quickly brought his craft to bear on the oddly small fighter. _Must be a drone ship… that explains why he flew right by me- not much room for brains in those tiny ships. About all they can do is fly straight and take an occasional pot shot._ A few blasts later the small ship was sent burning down to the ground below. 

A few more drones headed his way, one of them firing a few lazy shots in his general direction. Bill looped up around and over them, laughing as they just flew on forward, not even realizing they were about to be destroyed. 

Once they were taken care of, Bill swung his fighter around to head back towards where the 'fighting' (if it could be called that) was heaviest. "Husky, Bulldog, report in," he ordered, trying to make sense of the cloud of fighters swarming over the base. 

"Husky two reporting in." 

"Husky three here, they're flying like they're asleep!" Tinny voices laughed over the radio. 

"Bulldog one, reporting in." 

More and more pilots called in. Bill found to his amazement that they hadn't suffered a single casualty yet… In fact, except for the occasional lucky shot, no one had even taken significant damage. Bill watched as two of the enemy ships, in pursuit of one of his own, collided in mid air. _About the best Andross can hope for with forces like these is they might crash into one of us if we aren't paying attention._

"Husky, Bulldog, these guys are morons," he laughed to his group, shooting down three in quick succession. "But don't let your guard down. If we're careful this should be a cakewalk." 

Both groups responded with confident affirmatives, as several more drones fell prey to their lasers. _This can't be all there is to it, _Bill thought. _Unless this is just a diversionary attack, and their real target is elsewhere. Zoness is under attack the last I heard… maybe they're launching an offensive there._

"Hey, hey!" A new voice interrupted Bill's thoughts. "I'd offer to help you guys but it sounds like you've got this under control." 

Bill recognized the voice at once. "Peppy! Glad you guys finally made it." Grinning, he looked up, and spotted the silhouettes of the approaching Arwings. Strange… there only appeared to be three of them… "Hey Peppy, what's up? Is someone missing? Fox?" He realized it had to be Fox- he would have said something to Bill by now. 

"Well, yeah, he's sitting this one out," Peppy responded absently, blowing away a fighter while he was talking. "He… well… I'll fill you in later." Bill wished his speaker was a little better… he was sure he could hear pain in Peppy's voice, but it wasn't quite clear. 

"Is this IT?" Falco cried in shock after shooting down his first drone. "This is easier than shooting targets in the Academy!" 

"Well then, this shouldn't be a problem for you, eh?" Bill said, knowing it would ruffle Falco's feathers. A message flashed across his control panel. "Another wave is coming in, so watch it… This might be a better group." 

StarFox acknowledged, but Bill's fears were unfounded. It was simply another wave of drone ships pouring into the fray. 

A high pitched voice screamed across the radio moments after the new group joined the battle. "Help me!" Slippy wailed. He had at least a half dozen fighters on his tail. Bill could only laugh as he picked them off- some things never changed. Who else could get into so much trouble? At least the new group was just more drones. 

Bill glanced over at his chronometer. 8:23 A.M. He sighed as yet another wave of drones came swarming into the atmosphere. This might take awhile.   
  


* * * 

Katina 

Tildoe Base 

9:35 A.M. 

It had been almost two hours now, and Bill was getting pretty tired. He could fly for hours on end, but combat wore at the nerves… even when the battle was almost pathetically easy. The only idea he could come up with was that the enemy planned to simply wear away at them, sending endless waves of these pitiful drones, until they couldn't fight any longer. 

Bill flew mechanically, shooting down drones without even thinking about it. He, as had all the other pilots, had fallen into a sort of routine- shoot, flip, shoot, locate new targets, shoot, flip, shoot…. They spoke little now, probably all thinking along the same lines as Bill- they couldn't keep going forever. If the situation didn't show any signs of clearing up soon, he considered having a few pilots land and rest for a bit. He could then rotate them back in to relieve some of the others… shifting the most exhausted pilots out and replacing them with fresher ones as the battle wore on… 

A message from Tildoe Base interrupted his thoughts. "Sir, be advised that we've picked up a large craft entering the atmosphere- it appears to be on a direct course here." 

He checked his radar, and, as promised, a ship at least as large as the base itself was slowly making it's way towards them. "That must be the mothership these drones are launching from," he told his team. "Finally decided to come out of hiding I see. If we can take that out…" 

Looking over his radar, he noticed the amount of drones had dropped vastly. No more appeared to have been launched after the last wave was mostly wiped out. Bill had a sinking feeling… 

"Bill, you guys take care of the base here," Peppy said, "we're going to go see what we can do about that." 

"Roger that Peppy, you be careful now- they must have something nasty in store for us or they wouldn't be showing their faces now," Bill responded, watching as StarFox sped off towards the incoming ship. 

"Don't worry about it," Falco answered, his voice full of confidence. "A ship that big just has that many more weak spots." 

"Yeah, I guess…" Bill said, not convinced. "But watch it." 

"Funny," Slippy reported as they approached, "I'm g-getting some crazy readings from th-that ship… I can't be sh-sure of its shield strength. All the s-smaller ships it's carrying make a reading impossible." 

Peppy leaned forward in his cockpit, straining to get a better look at the ship. There didn't appear to be any visible launch bays or openings, or any defensive weapons for that matter. "I don't see where it could have been launching those fighters from…" he said slowly as his Arwing drew closer. 

"I'm p-picking up some sort of activity inside," Slippy stated. "I think th-they're about to launch another gr-group of fighters." 

"How?" Peppy asked, scanning his eyes over the mothership again. "I don't see any launch bays." 

"Looks like we're about to find out…" Falco warned. Several panels on the mothership dropped down, revealing four large launch pads. Within moments, dozens more fighters were swarming through the sky towards them. One broke off from the group and burned its engines towards Falco. Falco's fighter rocked as a laser blast slammed into his shields. "Whoa! He hit me!" 

Peppy quickly turned his attention over to Falco. "Bogeys on my tail!" Falco shouted. "Two, no three of them!" Laser blasts peppered Falco's ship again, but his shields held. Peppy moved in behind the group as quickly as he could, but before he could open fire, his own ship rattled from repeated laser blasts. 

"Blast it!" he shouted as he spun out of the way of another volley of fire. He could see several fighters locked onto his own tail. "These ones are good!" Slippy was wailing, having picked up his own group of tails, and Falco appeared to be struggling to evade his group, just barely avoiding their fire. _They need help, _Peppy said to himself silently. Watching the fighters on his tail for a vulnerable moment, he saw his chance. _Let's see you follow me through this._ He zigged and zagged randomly for a few moments, then dove and quickly followed through into a loop. 

Peppy watched with satisfaction as the enemy fighters zoomed through where he had been. Before he could bring his weapons to bear, however, the enemy group split up in three directions, scattering as widely as possible in an attempt to get behind him again. _Smart move… I can't follow all three, and if I pursue one, the other two will be free to get behind me again. _However, with his immediate threat gone, Peppy ignored them and thrusted back to assist his wingmates. 

By the time he reached them, Falco had managed to break loose from his own bogeys and was doggedly trying to chase one down and destroy it without being blasted himself. Slippy appeared to be in more immediate danger, so Peppy first moved to assist him. By the time Peppy's attackers were able to turn around and lock back onto his tail, he had managed to surprise two of Slippy's pursuers- enough for the frog to gain the initiative and start pursuing the survivor. 

"Falco, how you holding up?" Peppy asked as he tried to avoid the angry laser blasts flying all around him. 

"I'm all right," Falco replied. "I got one of them… I should be able to take care of the other two." 

"Roger that," Peppy acknowledged, trying to keep enough of his attention on his flying to keep ahead of his pursuers. "Bill? How's your group holding up?" 

There was no reply for several moments. Finally Bill responded with a brief "Not well." Taking a brief glance at that end of the battle, Peppy could see Husky and Bulldog groups were heavily engaged. A few fighters were falling toward the ground in flames, and not all of them were the enemy's. 

"It's like these guys know our every move!" Falco shouted as the fighter he was chasing effortlessly avoided his fire. "They keep getting better and better as time goes on!" 

Peppy couldn't afford to keep dividing his attention, and moved his focus back to gaining the upper hand on the enemy fighters behind him. Just as he managed to fool one and blow it out of the sky as it flew past, he took a brief glance at the mothership, which had spent the entire time simply waiting at the fringes of the battle. As he watched, the panels on the ship dropped open again. 

Moments later, another full group of the enhanced group of fighters began to pour out. 

Things didn't look good… 

* * * 

Venom 

Wolf O'Donnell's Quarters 

8:09 P.M. (10:25 A.M. Katina Time) 

Wolf lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, not really thinking about much of anything. Reports from Katina were trickling in on his monitor, but with all communications jammed they were reduced to messages carried by light-speed courier ships. The battle sounded to be progressing well, so Wolf stopped paying attention when he was confident Venom's force would win. 

The door chimed with a cheery tone that Wolf had never felt inside himself. _Damn it all, _Wolf thought absently, _I don't want to be bothered anymore today._ But, he knew it could be important news of some sort, so when the chime rang again he called "Enter." 

The door opened, but Wolf didn't bother looking to see who came in, knowing they hadn't come here just to stare at him. "Are ya awake Wolf?" he heard Pigma's high-pitched voice squeal. 

"We need to talk," he heard Leon say, "It's important." 

Wolf sighed, sitting up and turning to face them. Pigma looked a bit nervous for some reason, but Leon was as impassive as ever. _Something's up… Leon isn't showing it, but Pigma looks frightened by something. Of course, Leon's expression never changes, even during his 'interrogations'…_ "What is it?" he asked aloud, eyeing the two suspiciously. 

Pigma looked at Leon expectantly. "Well, it's rather simple," Leon began. "You've got some sort of problem, and we want to know what it is. You've been distracted lately, and careless… I still can't understand how that Pheonix woman managed to shoot you down with your new fighter." 

"I know ya have some sort of grudge against McCloud, and ya hate him," Pigma said, his courage starting to come to him. "But it seems like whenever he's around, or we have the chance to hurt 'im somehow, you get all sloppy." 

Wolf just glared at the two. "Is that all?" he shot icily. "I'm not required to tell you my whole life's history- it's not any of your business. We may be a team, but make no mistake; I'm not your friend." He stomped over to his monitor, scanning the battle reports again. "The woman was lucky- that's all," he spat, fixing an icy glare at Pigma. "And if you think I'm getting sloppy maybe you'd like to try and take command from me." 

Even though Wolf was unarmed, Pigma shrank back from him, horror in his eyes. Leon, though, wasn't quite ready to back off. "Fine, if you want to be that way, then go right ahead. But don't come crying to me if you miss another chance to kill McCloud because you're so blinded by your hate for him you can't even see straight." 

Wolf took a step towards the pair. "GET OUT! Don't bother me again!" 

Leon and Pigma glanced at each other again, then left the room without another word. Wolf watched the two go, then locked the door behind them. "They don't understand," Wolf muttered aloud after they had gone. "It doesn't matter anyway… I'm not getting careless… I'm closer to Fox than I've been in a long time…" 

On his monitor, new reports began to flash across the screen. Wolf scanned over the newest list of reports, a growing smile on his face. The jamming had been lowered allowing communications to open up again. The battle reports were still being assessed, but… 

Wolf's smile grew even wider. "Yes indeed… Fox, you're closer than you've ever been before…" 

The final reports scrolled by, and it was made official. 

Katina had fallen. 

With visions of Fox dying at his hands flashing through his head, Wolf began to laugh…   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Okay, I finally managed to get my personal life in some vague semblance of order (having finished my classes in January helped), so I'm going to get this show on the road again. I kept this chapter fairly short, but I believe in concise writing, so hopefully it shouldn't suffer too much from that._

_Coming up- Chapter 4: All your base are belong to us! (Okay, maybe not.)_

_As always, tell me what you think, and don't be afraid to criticize if it's called for. (But no flames.) Thanks!_

   [1]: mailto:Knicknevin@teamartail.com



	4. A hidden past...

Author's Note: Grrrr… I lost all my old reviews. Oh, well... it was my own fault. Well, I need new ones! Thanks for your review Jesika, glad to know you're here. Hope you get the next part of your story up soon!

… And… how embarrassing! I popped in my copy of the old SNES StarFox… And I discovered Slippy does, in fact, stutter. Funny… I started this up having Slippy stutter, for reasons I couldn't quite pinpoint. He stuttered in the NP comic too… oh well. Guess my instinct filled in where my memory failed me.

Well, enough talk. I forgot what else I wanted to say anyway.

****

Ruins of Camelot

Chapter 4

By: Knicknevin

On board the Great Fox- en route from Katina to Corneria

Communications room

6:00 P.M. Corneria time

Peppy glanced back at the others as his communication was patched through. He felt as tired as Slippy and Falco looked… and they were both looking pretty rough. The words 'transmission being transferred' continued to flash on screen. _Pepper must be pretty bogged down right now, _Peppy said to himself. _It might be a while._

The battle on Katina had been ugly. By the end it had become totally hopeless- the enemy fighters were anticipating every move they made and were countering them before they had even started. It hadn't taken long after the second wave of fighters flew in for Tildoe Base to order a withdrawal. 

Bill and a small fraction of his squadron had managed to escape, escorting all the cargo and passenger ships that could be evacuated from the base. Andross's forces hadn't pursued, opting to focus their energy on wiping out all those who hadn't been able to evacuate.

Katina had fallen… The last line of defense before Corneria was gone. _Andross must be sensing victory is near, _Peppy thought as he waited for Pepper to answer his call. _His forces have been driving almost desperately. He must want to end this soon…_

"Fox still isn't coming out of his room," Falco commented absently. "I think somebody should go talk to him. He shouldn't be left alone for so long in the shape he's in."

Peppy agreed with Falco's thoughts, wishing the news of Fara's death hadn't come right before such an important battle… They'd been forced to leave Fox alone during the time he needed his friends most. 

"S-so who should go do it?" Slippy asked nervously. The three looked at one another. Before anyone could speak, the monitor blanked and General Pepper appeared on screen.

"Ah, yes, Pepper here," the general said quickly. He appeared tired; his uniform was a mess. "Peppy, is that you?" he asked curiously, as the rabbit had his back to the camera.

Peppy turned around in surprise at Pepper's voice. "Oh! Yes general, Peppy here."

Falco and Slippy glanced at one another, their eyes questioning. Falco finally turned away. "All right, I'll do it. It was my idea anyway," the avian said, marching out of the room, obviously dreading the chore he had volunteered for. Slippy followed a few moments later, having the impression that Falco would need some help.

Pepper glanced over Peppy's shoulder, trying to catch what was happening behind the hare. "What was it you needed?" he questioned. "Things are… rather a mess here right now."

"Well," Peppy began, turning Pepper's gaze back to him. "I'm sure you've gotten the gist of what happened back there, but I thought you would want our take on what happened. The strategy the enemy used was unlike anything we've seen before…" Peppy trailed off seeing the expression on General Pepper's face.

Pepper nodded sadly. "Yes, I have received reports of the nature of the force that attacked you." His gaze slid away. "CDF forces had actually encountered and captured one of the drones you encountered beforehand, although I didn't send the info along to our other CDF bases…"

Peppy stared at the general in shock. "Why didn't you tell us?" he asked angrily. "And what were they anyway?"

"What they were, according to Intelligence, was a strategy far too expensive to ever be successfully accomplished. The first group you fought were little more than target drones, but they served an important task- they analyzed your flight patterns and sent the data they collected to the central computer on the mothership, where the data was fed into better equipped fighters. By the time the _real_ threat was deployed, a vast amount of data had been collected and they were able to adapt to your flight style with incredible speed."

"Too expensive…?" Peppy asked after he had considered this.

Pepper nodded, anger flashing in his eyes. "I didn't pass that info along because Intelligence was confident that there was no way Andross's forces could possibly afford to waste such a vast amount of resources on drones whose sole purpose was to send back the flight data of the fighters that were shooting them down." Pepper paused for a moment to catch his breath. "I agreed and didn't prioritize it as something that needed to be urgently relayed to all forces… By the time I realized what was happening on Katina all communications had been jammed…"

Peppy nodded slowly. "I see…"

"I'm sorry. If I had any idea they would be testing that strategy out on Katina…"

"It's… all right. There was no way you could have known," Peppy responded. "How bad were our losses there?"

Pepper looked down. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. You boys pulled off a miracle getting that many of our people off the planet safely…"

"Hardly a miracle sir. Bill managed to stage a very well organized retreat," Peppy replied. 

"Yes, yes he did," Pepped agreed. "By the way… how is Fox doing? Has he recovered any?"

Peppy sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Well, I'm not really sure. He hasn't come out of his room since he got the news…"

Pepper nodded, not surprised. "Well, for all our sakes, I hope he recovers himself soon…"

"He hasn't had much time…"

Pepper nodded. "I know. But, there is no more time… Now we make our last stand…"

Peppy was silent for a few moments, the gravity of what Pepper had said sinking in.

"There is an alternative…" Peppy suggested, a plan forming in his mind.

Pepper fixed the hare with a harsh glare. "Surrender is not an option," he said sternly, misunderstanding Peppy's meaning.

"No, no," Peppy responded in surprise. "I don't mean surrender. We both know what that would lead to."

"So what then?"

Peppy broke eye contact with the general, his gaze drifting off to the side. "We attack."

***

Venom

Early morning

Leon's quarters

Leon scanned his eyes over Pigma and Andrew. Both of them looked tired and impatient. _Sometimes I wonder how I ever got hooked up with this group. I could've led a good career in Venomian Intelligence if I hadn't insisted on becoming a pilot…_ Pigma grunted and shifted in his seat. _Now I'm trapped here with a traitor, a dim-wit, and a 'leader' who seems to be losing his mind… Not to mention Andross…_

Pigma grunted impatiently again. He'd been agitated for quite a while, not wanting to wait for so long. "Comon! What're we sitting around here for? I could be sleeping right now!"

Leon suppressed a sigh as he brought his thoughts into order. Finally he spoke. "I know you're impatient, but bear with me. I know all of us have noticed how oddly Wolf has been acting lately. Earlier today," he went on, turning his attention to Andrew, "Pigma and I tried to convince him to reveal what it is that's causing him to act so erratically. We weren't successful."

"It's all about Fox!" Pigma added, seeing what Leon was driving at. "Wolf has some sorta grudge against him… something that eats away at him whenever McCloud is involved. Whatever it is, he gets all sloppy whenever he has a shot at Fox or one if his friends."

Leon nodded at this. "But why did you call us here?" Andrew asked. "I know he can get a little soft when it comes to blood, but what is he doing that is making you so worried that you call us here now?"

"Soft when it comes to blood?" Leon asked, caught off guard by the change of subject and not understanding what Andrew was talking about.

"Haven't you noticed how he always manages to miss your little 'interrogation' shows? I don't think it's really an accident. He manages to miss all the really bloody scenes." Leon and Pigma's eyes widened in surprise.

"I… hadn't realized that," Leon said a bit lamely, realizing Andrew had a point. Wolf really _did_ manage to miss anything that could turn 'messy'… It would bear looking in to, though it probably wasn't important… _Perhaps it was why he became a pilot, _Leon considered,_ a pilot never even has to see the other pilot he's killing. Embarrassing having Andrew be the one to point it out to me though_. Collecting his thoughts again, Leon moved on. "But, regardless, that wasn't why I called you here… I think we need to begin checking through all the databases available to us. Wolf has some sort of past with McCloud, and I think we need to know what it is. I'm best at gathering information, but you, Pigma, are most familiar with Cornerian history and records, and you, Andrew, should be able to use your uncle's influence to get access to files we may not be able to."

The other two sat in silence for a few moments, considering. "So you want us to spend all our spare time searching through old records, on the slim chance that whatever happened between the two is on record somewhere?"

Leon nodded. "I know I'm asking a lot, but it's important that we learn whatever Wolf's secret is. Our lives may depend on it if we are to ambush StarFox at Zoness…"

"I guess so," Pigma conceded. "I'm not gonna let Wolf drag me down with him. I'll start checking tomorrow." He didn't look very happy about it however. But, Leon didn't care, as long as Pigma did his share of the work.

"I can get a little leeway with the brass," Andrew agreed. "I don't think it would be in some top-secret file, but I'll do what I can to check if there's anything to be found there."

Leon glanced between the two, pleased that they were cooperating, even if only reluctantly on Pigma's part. "We're all in agreement then?"

Andrew and Pigma both nodded sharply. After a few seconds had passed by in silence, Pigma rose from his seat. "Well, fine then. I'm going back to sleep," he said, then left and headed down to his quarters. Andrew followed shortly after.

Leon activated his computer and began a long search, his eyes scanning endless bits of useless information, searching for the critical bit of info that would reveal Wolf's secret. The amount of data that had been collected on Fox was impressive- Andross had wanted to know every possible detail about his most dangerous enemy, in the hopes that some weakness could be found. The connection between Fox and Wolf, Leon felt, had to be in there somewhere.

He kept at his search for long into the night…

***

Great Fox

Fox's quarters

6:09 P.M. Corneria time

Fox lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He vainly tried to focus his mind on happier times, knowing he should try to remember Fara happily, instead of with sadness and regret… but he couldn't stop thinking of how empty his life was going to be without her. Every time he thought he could pull himself together and go on, the memories came crashing down again, and he could only think of how he had lost Fara…

His stomach had been growling for a while, as he lay on the bed. He hadn't eaten for some time, but he ignored it. 

He also tried to ignore the annoying buzzing coming from the door, but it kept on incessantly. Eventually the buzzing stopped and was replaced by repeated pounding on the door. "Come on Fox, I know you're in there," he heard Falco's voice through the door. "Open up and let me in."

Fox sighed and rolled onto his side, his thoughts drifting away. The buzzing started again, droning on and on endlessly, seeming to drill into his head. Before Falco could lay off the doorbell and start pounding again, Fox forced himself to his feet, and opened the door.

"Fox!" Falco said in surprise at seeing the door open- he had about given up on Fox letting him in. "Can I come in?"

Fox simply turned and sat down on his bed, leaving the door open. "So…" Falco began uncertainly as he came in the door. "How are you doing? Er… I guess not so hot huh?"

Fox couldn't help but smile slightly at Falco's discomfort. Falco was an excellent pilot, but he wasn't too big on social skills. "I'll… be all right. It's taken me some time, but I think I've got my feelings under control now."

Falco blinked, a bit surprised Fox had collected himself in the short amount of time since the news had come. "Really? I know how bad you have to feel right now…" Fox nodded in understanding.

"I do feel terrible. Every time I think of it, I get this powerful feeling of… emptiness, mixed with anger, and fear, and hate… But I try to keep my mind off the pain before it becomes unbearable."

Falco stood just inside the door, unsure of how to go on. _I know what it's like…I spent most of my life feeling the same way. It took_ _me a long time to move on after my father died and my mom abandoned me… _"Well… Everyone here's lost someone they cared for… We all want to help you… Uh, if you want to talk about it…"

Fox sighed. "Fara and I… we both knew this could happen. We both agreed not to let this possibility hinder us, or make us hold back in our duties in any way. I guess you could say I was prepared for this."

Falco heard movement behind him, and turned to see Slippy cautiously entering the room. "H-how can someone prepare f-for something like this? I d-don't see how you could m-m-make yourself ready…" the frog trailed off, not sure if that had been such a wise question to ask.

Fox shook his head. "I… Well, there _is_ no way to really prepare for it, but… we both accepted the possibility. And… that doesn't mean I can handle it any better. It's just something that both of us knew could happen."

The three were silent for a moment, each unsure of what to say next. 

Falco finally broke the silence, an idea forming in his mind. "Well, however you may be dealing with it Fox, I just want you to know that we're with you… We want to help."

Fox smiled sadly. "Thanks… I don't know what you can do though. I just need some time…"

"Well," Falco replied, "Sitting in here alone all day isn't the best way to pass that time. And well… back at the orphanage, before I ran off… The Penguin always said that the best thing to do when you're feeling bad is to talk about it to someone. I never really tried it, but… Maybe it'll make you feel a little better."

"He's r-right Fox," Slippy agreed. "You sh-should t-talk to us. Tell us something- anything. Anything you w-want. We'll understand."

Fox sighed. "Anything?" he asked, knowing they were never going to give him a moment's rest until he cooperated. 

Falco and Slippy seated themselves across from Fox. "Something you've got on your mind maybe," Falco suggested. "Or whatever you feel like talking about."

Fox thought for a few moments. "Well… there was that one time…" he smiled at the memory. "Right after Fara and I were engaged… We had headed into some city or another- I don't remember which. We'd had dinner at a fancy restaurant. On the way back, we stopped by some seedy looking bar, looking for trouble I guess- Sabby's was the name of the bar I think," Fox said, then chuckled quietly. 

"Sabby, as it turned out, was a gorilla about the size of a house… and with all the personality of a bulldozer. I still scratch my head trying to figure out how he managed to move so gracefully in the little space behind the bar. The patronage was your usual crowd of toughs- mostly factory workers I think- and it didn't tale long for elbows to start bumping into me as Fara and I sat at the bar. Maybe they didn't like folks outside their little group, or maybe they just thought I looked like an easy target, but either way, the bartender didn't look to concerned about his customers welfare."

"I tried to ignore the jostling as Fara and I talked about how we would tell you guys about the engagement. Heh… it was all we could do not to just run into some country town and wake up the Justice of the Peace. I was so happy that it took a long while for the harassment to get on my nerves."

Fox grinned. "I tripped one of them as he passed by for another bump, and he fell like a ton of bricks. He hauled himself back up looking severely pissed. He threw me off the barstool and stood over me, about to start beating on me," Fox said, then chuckled. "Imagine his surprise when, just when he thought he had me, Fara's mug smashed his head in. Probably didn't figure she would give him any trouble- he looked like the wife-beater sort. The rest of the group was pretty pissed off, but they were drunk and inexperienced… Fara and I mopped the floor with those guys."

"And Sabby- get this- he actually _thanked_ us for doing it. That group had been acting pretty badly recently, but he hadn't gotten around to kicking them out himself. Seemed a bit odd, being thanked about something like that by someone who could have probably taken them with one arm tied behind his back."

"Drinks were on the house that night, and careful as I am about alcohol, both of us were more than a little tipsy by the time we decided to head home…"

The three talked for long into the night, each sharing their own stories. They managed to- not forget, but put to rest, at least for a time, the loss they had suffered, and the threat that they would soon have to face. 

***

Venom

Andross's Inner Sanctum

4:00 A.M. 

Andross scanned over the last of the battle reports. The new technology the engineers had been calling 'foolproof' had worked, at least technically. Katina had played right into their hands, using all their skill against the new AI fighters. Once the AI system had gathered enough data, any hope Katina's defenders may have had of driving back the attack was lost.

On the other hand… it had turned out to be far too expensive for a repeat performance. The amount of resources lost in the campaign had been staggering. Three planets could have been conquered at the same cost as had been expended capturing that one base.

"Oh well," Andross said to the empty room, tossing the report aside. All that mattered was that Katina was now under his control. With victory secured there, Corneria was the only remaining stepping-stone to complete control of the Lylat System. 

__

Well… I should probably replace the engineers that had come up with the idea… he considered. _We may have won, but at a much higher cost than we should have._

Andross rose from his seat and crossed over to a holograpic display. Punching in a few commands, he brought up an image of Corneria. Andross smiled wickedly at the planet as it slowly revolved. He could still remember the anguish of his exile from that lush, green world. It wouldn't be much longer until that exile ended. "Now… now I set into motion the plan that will seal your doom: the complete and utter destruction of StarFox…"

He returned to his seat and rang for his assistant. "Yes sir?" a sullen looking lizard asked tiredly as he entered Andross's office. He wasn't an especially skilled aide, and Andross could never remember his name, but he was the only one Andross could find to take the shift after Leon exposed the last one as a traitor. Photos of Leon's 'interrogation' of the spy had leaked out making most Venomians leery of serving in a position so close to him. 

Still, he was skilled enough to take care of the task Andross had waiting for him. "Have the message I prepared earlier dispatched to Zoness by courier- we can't risk my instructions being intercepted. My forces on Zoness must then relay it back here using encryption we know that the Cornerians have broken recently."

The aide nodded. "Yes sir," he repeated, leaving the office quickly.

Andross chuckled as the aide left. _Wolf will be happy- he'll have his shot at Fox soon,_ he thought. _I wonder if he'll actually win this time?… He's had a number of chances to kill Fox before but there's always been some slip-up… Or perhaps Fox is simply a better warrior._ That thought bothered him. The whole ruse they had planned would be for nothing if Wolf failed to eliminate StarFox. _I'll send the AI fighters that survived the Katina battle to Zoness. If StarWolf fails, they'll be in reserve to take care of Fox and his crew. _

With that matter settled Andross turned his attention to his monitors. Glancing at the various updates, he noticed that someone was accessing level 5 restricted files. A quick check confirmed that it was in fact, Andrew searching through the files. _What is he up to? _Andross wondered. Examining the search pattern Andrew was using, he seemed to be looking for any files pertaining to Fox McCloud and Wolf O'donnell. _Interesting…_ A few keystrokes revealed that Leon was also searching through various databases, and for the same reason. 

Andross scratched his chin in thought. "Looking for the secret to Wolf and Fox's shared past?" he asked aloud. "Well, good luck… as far as I know, the only ones who know that secret are Wolf and Fox themselves, and I'm not even sure if Fox knows…"

It was one of the reasons Andross kept Wolf so close to him- without knowing for sure what Wolf's motivation was he could never be entirely trusted. So, Andross kept him close, where he could better keep an eye on him.

Andross leaned back in his chair. _It's unimportant now anyway… StarFox will be obliterated within a few days- Corneria not long after that… It's… perfect… _Andross's thoughts began to wander. _Now, perhaps…I'll get my wish…_ His thoughts drifted away, his mind filled with foreign ideas and strange daydreams.

He sat in his seat with a witless grin on his face, completely unaware of time as it passed by. His attention eventually snapped back to the present. Andross leaned forward stiffly to squint at the clock. 8:14 A.M. "Nearly four hours…It's… getting worse," he muttered, absent-mindedly wiping the drool from his chin.

Well, that's all for today. Chapter 5 should be up fairly soon (but don't quote me on that- my work schedule just got a bit busier), answering a few of the questions floating around.

Oh, and, as always, review me! Bad, good, or somewhere in between, tell me what you think! I know you're out there, so take a second and put forward your opinion! Thanks!


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